Driving mechanism for the worker rollers of planetary teazing machines



July 2, 1968 A. c. scHoLAERT 3,390,437 DRIVING ECHANISM FOR THE WORKERROLLERS 0F PLANETARY TEAZING MACHINES Filed Aug. 17. 1964 3 Sheets-Sheetl A. C. SCHOLAERT DRIVING MECHANISM FOR THE WORKER ROLLERS July z, 1963,390,437

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DRIVING MECHANISM FOR THE WORKER ROLLERS OF PLANETARY TEAZING MACHINESFiled Aug. 17. 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTDR:

ATTORNBS United States Patent O 3,390,437 DRIVING MECHANISM FOR THEWORKER RULL- ERS F ILANETARY TEAZING MACHINES Albert Csar Seholaert,Malmaison 503B Tourcoing, Nord, France Filed Aug. 17, 1964, Ser. No.390,144 Claims priority, application France, Aug. 21, 1963, 945,235 3Claims. (Cl. 26-35) This invention relates to devices for controllingthe r0- tational driving of the worker rollers of teazing machines.

The worker rollers of teazing machines are usually driven in rotationeither by a positive drive, such as a chain drive, without any possibleslipping, or by a belt, with the possibility of a certain slipping, witha vicw to giving flexibility of control, though on the other hand thisslipping has the disadvantage of not being subject to supervision.

The adoption of one or the other of these two types of control is not amatter of indifference, and, according to the nature of the fabricstreated, it modifies the result obtained, particularly the length of thenap of the fabric treated, and the output per hour. In order to obtainvaried effects it may therefore be necessary to Subject one and the samefabric to the action of a rigidly controlled teazing machine and to theaction of a flexibly controlled teazing machine, lbut hitherto this hasnot been done, because of the supplementary manipulations that thiswould necessitate, and consequently the corresponding increase in thecost price, not to mention the risk of ultimate deterioration of thefabric.

The object of this invention is to render it possible to obtain, ononeand the same teazing machine, all the desired effects which it hasnot hitherto been possible to obtain except by passing the fabricthrough severa-l teazing machines of different characteristics insuccession.

With this end in view, the worker rollers of a teazing machine accordingto the invention are driven selectively, either with or without slippingby a driving device, under the supervision of appropriate means.

The invention likewise relates to forms of construction comprising atleast one of the following features:

(a) The control device comprises a chain o-r a notched belt, passingover a toothed wheel, which is mounted loose on the shaft of eachroller, and which is connected with the latter lby a coupling, thetorque of which is adjustable. v

(b) The adjustable torque coupling comprises an electro-magnet ofvariable excitation, the movable armature of which serves to exert anadjustable pressure upon two friction pieces, one of which is connectedfast to the said toothed wheel and the other to the shaft of the roller.

(c) An electro-magnetic coupler with powder of variable viscosity servesas a variable-torque coupling between the toothed wheel and the rollershaft.

(d) The cont-rol device comprises a smooth ibelt, permanently located,and a notched 'belt or chain, passing over a smooth pulley and over aytoothed wheel, respectively, mounted on the shaft of the roller.

(e) The smooth pulley is permanently mounted fast on the shaft, and themeans of control comprises means which enable the control by the notchedbelt or chain to be ne-utralised.

(f) The means of neutralisation of the 4control by the chain comprisesmeans which enable the chain to be removed.

(g) rIlhe means that enable the control by the chain to be neutralisedcomprises a coupling device interposed 'between the toothed wheel andthe shaft.

(-h) The selective coupling device of the pulley and 3,396,437 PatentedJuly 2, 1968 ICC the toothed wheel on the shaft comprises a slidingsleeve with claws, the toothed wheel being provided with cooperatingclaws.

T he invention will be better understood upon reading the followingdescription and examining the accompanying drawings, which show, by wayof example but not 0f limitation, some forms of construction of theinvention.

In these drawings:

FIGURE 1 represents diagrammatically t-he drum that carries the workerrollers of a teazing machine, and, in a general way, the rotationaldriving system of the rollers as a whole;

FIGURE 2 shows, on a :larger scale, one end of a roller shaft, carryinga ilexible controlling pulley, and a controlling chain wheel for rigidcontrol;

FIGURE 3 shows .a first modification, with a pulley and a chain wheel,with clutch;

FIGURES 3a and 3b are partial sections taken along the lines IIIa--IIIaand IIIb-IIIb, respectively, in FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 4 shows a second modification, with a chain wheel and avariable-torque friction clutch, but without a 'belt pulley; and

FIGURE 5 represents another modification, likewise without a beltpulley, with a toothed chain wheel connected with the shaft by anelectro-magnetic powder device, providing a variable connecting torque.

In a general way, in the teazing machine, a shaft 1 (FIGURE l) carries adrum 2, on the periphery of which are mounted worker rollers called naprollers 3, alternating with worker rollers called counter-nap rollers 4.All these rollers can rotate about axes which are individually parallelto the axis of the drum 2. The ends of all the nap rollers 3, on oneside of the latter, are provided with pulleys or chain wheels, overwhich passes a single belt or chain 5, driven by a pulley yor a chainwheel 6 mounted loose upon the shaft 1 of the drum. The pulley or chainwheel 6 is virtually integral with ano-ther pulley or a toothed wheel 7,which, in the example represented, is of the same diameter as the pulleyor wheel 6, so that these two wheels merge into one in FIGURE 1. Thewheel or pulley 7 is drive-n by any suita'ble transmission, such as thatindicated 'by way of example at 8 in FIG- URE 1. The counter-nap rollersare similarly driven as is common in the art. At 10 is indicated thefabric, which is passing over all the rollers.

FIGURE 2 shows on a larger scale one end of a workroller, in thisinstance, a nap roller 3, for example, carred by a shaft 11, supportedby the inner race of a ball bearing 12, the outer race of which ismounted in a bearing 13, secured to the drum 2. On the screw-threadedend of the shaft 11 is screwed the hub 14 of a member which isdesignated as a whole by 15, and which comprises a part 16, forming apulley, over which passes a belt 17, and another part 18, forming atriple toothed wheel, over which passes a chain 19.

The member 15, forming a pulley and a toothed wheel, is secured fast tothe shaft 11 by means of a nut 21, screwed on to a screw-threaded endportion 22, the diameter of which is smaller than that of the threadedpart onto which the hub 14 is screwed.

The general configuration of the belt 17 and that 0f the chain 19 areindicated at 5 in FIGURE 1 and both of which are driven from pulleysloose on the shaft of the drum.

The operation of the device illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 is asfollows:

The belt 17 always remains in position. When the chain 19 is likewise inposition upon Iall the toothed wheels carried by the rollers, these arerotationally driven in a positive manner, without any slipping, thusprovidastronef? ing a rigid control of the rollers. If the chain 19 isremoved, the rollers are then driven solely by the belt 17, whichensures a ilexible control of the rollers. To remove the chain 19,recourse may be had to any appropriate standard means, such as ademountable link in the said chain, or the displacement of achain-tightener, so as to impart to the latter suflicient slack toenable it to be removed. It is likewise possible to provide a mechanicaldevice for removing the chain.

In another form of construction, represented in FIG- URE 3, in which isagain seen one end of the shaft 11 of a roller 3, the pulley 31, overwhich the belt 17 passes, is again screwed and blocked upon a threadedpart of the said shaft. The toothed wheel 32, on the other hand, .overwhich a chain 33 passes, is mounted loose, through the medium of twoball bearings 35 and 36, upon an extension 38 of the roller shaft. Ontothis extension 38 are successively threaded: a strut sleeve .or spacingsleeve 41, the inner race of the ball bearing 35, a strut ring orspacing ring 42, the inner race of the bearing 36, another strut ring orspacing 43, the hub of a member 45, to which reference will be madefurther on, a washer 46, and nally a nut 47, screwed on to thescrew-threaded end of the said extension 38, and provided with alock-nut 4S.

The toothed wheel 32 may be rendered, at will, either fast or loose uponthe roller shaft7 by means of an electromechanical coupling whichcomprises an electro-magnet 51, with its winding 52, mounted, throughthe medium of a needle bearing 53, upon the hub of the aforementionedmember 45, which will hereinafter be designated the support of theelectro-magnet. The hub 44 is keyed to the shaft of the roller by means`of a key 55. The eletcro-magnet 51 is held rotationally fast inrelation to the drum 2 of the machine by means of an arresting nger, andits winding is supplied with current by electric wires indicated at 57,coming from any suitable source.

The movable member serving to connect the toothed Wheel 32 to the rollershaft is constituted by an annular coupling member 61 (see also FIGURE3b), one face of which is provided with teeth 58, which co-operate withcorresponding teeth 59 (see also FIGURE 3a) on the opposite face of thesupport 45, the said annular coupling member 61 being slidably mounted,by longitudinal interna] teeth 62, upon longitudinal external teeth 63cut in an annular member 64, which is secured by screws 65 to a drum 66,which is itself secured to the toothed wheel 32 by means of bolts 67.The assembly 32, 66 and 64 has been designed as three distinct parts forconvenience of machining, particularly for the cutting of the toothedwheel 32 and the cutting of the teeth of the annular member 64.

The operation of the device illustrated in FIGURES 3, 3a and 3b is asfollows:

The driving belt 17 is always in place on the pulley 31, which is itselfpermanently fast on the shaft 11 of the rollers, so that when thetoothed wheel 32 is declutched, the roller is driven solely by the belt,that is to say, by the flexible control, while when the Wheel 32 iscoupled to the shaft, the drive is positive, by the chain, the beltbeing then passive. When the electro-magnet 51 is not excited, thecoupling piece 61 is kept disengaged from the piece by permanent magnets68, embedded in the member 64 and attracting the member 61. When theelectro-magnet is excited, its armature 45 attracts the member 61 with aforce greater than that of the permanent magnets 68, so that the teeth4of this member 61 come into engagement with those of the member 45. Thetoothed wheel 32 is then fast on the shalt of the roller. When thecurrent feeding the electro-magnet is cut off, the member 61 isattracted by the permanent magnets, and the toothed wheel 32 is againloose on the shaft. Remote control of the clutches of al the rollers atthe same time can easily be effected, for instance, by means of aninstallation such as that diagrammatically represented in FIGURE l,where the conductors 57 supplying each electro-magnet are all l unitedto two insulated conducting rings 69 and 69a, carried by the drum 2, andconnected, by two brushes 70 and 76a, to an electrical distributionnetwork R, through the medium of a common rheostat Rh for generalregulation.

Whereas, in the forms of construction of FIGURES 2 and 3, the flexiblecontrol was effected by a belt with a certain slip over a pulley fast oneach roller shaft, in the forms of construction of FIGURES 4 and 5 it iseffected by means of a chain mounted on a toothed wheel which can beconnected with the roller shaft through the medium ot' a variable-slipcoupling, either by variable friction, in the embodiment of FIGURE 4, orby varying the viscosity of a magnetic powder, in the embodiment ofFIGURE 5.

In FIGURE 4 there is again the shaft 11 of a roller 3 mounted in abearing 12 of the drum 2, a double toothed wheel 71, for a chain 72, ismounted loose, through the medium of two ball bearings 73 and 74, upon asleeve 75, mounted upon a corresponding fluted end 76 of the rollershaft 11, and retained axially upon the latter by a central screw 77.

The inner ball races of the two ball bearings 73 and 74, and n strutring or spacing ring 73, are lodged upon the sleeve 75, between ashoulder 79 on the latter and a resilient cane 81, lodged in an annulargroove in the said sleeve. The two outer race rings of the said bearingsare axially positioned in the toothed wheel 71 by two resilient canes 82and 83.

The toothed wheel 71 may be made temporarily fast upon the sleeve bymeans of an electro-magnetic friction clutch, comprising an armature 84slidably mounted upon the sleeve 75 and keyed to the latter by tone ormore keys 85.

The magnetic casing 86, which encloses the exciting coil 87 of theelectro-magnet, is mounted upon the Sleeve 75 through the medium of aball bearing 89. By an arresting linger it is rendered rotationally fastin relation to the drum 2, which carries the cables 91 supplying currentto the electro-magnet from any suitable current source.

The inner race of the ball bearing 89 is retained towards the exteriorby a washer 93 and a nut 94 screwed on to the threaded end 95 of thesleeve 75, and provided with a lock-nut 96. The outer race is positionedin the piece S6 by a resilient cane 97.

The movable armature 84 of the electro-magnet carries a rim or segmentsg8 of a material having a suitable coecient of friction, which can rubagainst the adjacent face of a rim 101, secured to another rim 102,which is provided with cooling fins 103, and is rotationally bound tothe toothed wheel 71 by dowels 105, the longitudinal direction of whichis parallel to that of the rim 101, and which are lodged incorresponding holes in the piece 102 and in another rim 106, xed to thesaid toothed wheel by screws 107.

A spring 111, slipped over a screw 112, urges the two pieces 102 and 106constantly against one another.

The two pieces 101 and 84, and particularly the friction pieces 98, canbe maintained perfectly in Contact, even if there is a slight veiling orbuckling of the piece 106, due to the sliding arrangement of the dowels105 in the said piece.

The magnetic flux of the electro-magnet 86 tends to press the movablearmature 84 against the rim 101, against the force of a spring,consisting, in the example, of Belleville washers 114, interposedbetween the hub of the armature S4 and a resilient cane 115, mounted inan annular groove in the sleeve 75.

By means, for example, such as those described above, it is possible toregulate the strength of the current feeding the Winding 87 of theelectro-magnet, so that it is possible to vary the force pressing themovable armature 84 against the rims that are rotationally fast with thetoothed chain wheel 71, and, consequently, to vary the magnitude of thetorque with which the said toothed wheel drives the roller.

When the strength of the exciting current ofthe electromagnet is amaximum, the friction is suicient for the drive to be effectedpositively, without slip. In this way, rigid control is obtained.

In order to obtain flexible control, with a variable degree offlexibility, all that is necessary is to reduce the strength of theelectric current progressively down to the desired value, so as toreduce correspondingly the driving torque that effects the connectionbetween the toothed wheel 71 and the roller shaft.

When the current in the electro-magnet is completely cut ott, or atleast is of a force insufcient to overcome that of the springs 114, thetoothed wheel '71 is rendered loose on the roller shaft, and the rolleris no longer driven.

In the form of construction illustrated in FIGURE 5, which comprises acoupler with magnetic powder of variable viscosity, there is again aworker roller 3 and its shaft 11 mounted in a ball bearing, here aball-and-socket bearing 121, carried by a cheek or flange of the drum 2.A triple chain wheel 123, over which passes a chain 124, is mountedloose upon an extension 125 of the shaft 11 of the roller, through themedium of a ball bearing 126 with a double row of balls.

The toothed wheel 123 may be connected to the roller shaft, with avariable driving torque, through the medium of a coupler with magneticpowder of variable viscosity of any convenient standard type, such asthe type diagrammatically represented at 12S. This coupler comprises aeld magnet 131, carried by a collar 132, fast on the cheek of the drum Zof the machine, through the medium of a strut or spacing post 133.

The eld magnet 131 is lodged in an external prole piece 135, in theinterior of which there is a rotatable internal pole piece 136, which iskeyed to the extension of the roller shaft by a key 137.

A two-part sleeve 141, centered by two ball bearings 142 and 143 uponthe extension of the roller shaft, is interposed between the externalpole piece 135 and the internal pole piece 136. It is made fast, byscrews 144 to an annular member 145, which is itself secured by screws146 to the toothed wheel 123, over which passes the chain 124 whichdrives the roller. The centering of the sleeve 141 in the external -polepiece 13S is effected by two other ball bearings 148 and 149.

Between the inner pole piece 136 and the sleeve 141 is interposed amagnetic powder, the viscosity of which is variable as a function of thestrength of the current brought by the conductors 151 t-o the fieldmagnet 131 of the device.

By a judicious adjustment lof the strength of the current feeding thefield magnet 131 there is given to the magnetic powder the desirableviscosity capable of producing the necessary driving torque between theroller shaft and the toothed wheel 123, in order that the roller may bedriven either by a torque capable of effecting a positive connection,without slip, or by a weaker torque, adjustable, permitting slipping ofappropriate Value.

The invention is not, of course, limited to the forms of construeitondescribed and illustrated, as numerous modifications may be made thereinwithout thereby going outside the ambit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A teazing machine comprising a rotary shaft, a drum carried by saidshaft, a plurality of worker rollers rotatably mounted on the peripheryof said drum, transmission means including means on each of said rollerscooperating therewith connected with slipping to each of said workerrollers, other non-slip transmission means including other means on eachof said rollers cooperating therewith removably connected to each ofsaid worker rollers, and means driving sai-d t-wo transmission means.

2. A teazing machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein therst-mentioned transmission means comprises a smooth belt transmissionand wherein the second-mentioned transmission means comprises a toothedwheel connected with each of said worker rollers, and a removable chainmeshing with said toothed wheels and connected with said driving means.

3. A teazing machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein thefirst-mentioned transmission means comprises a smooth pulley connectedwith each of said worker rollers and a smooth belt flexing over saidpulleys and connected to said driving means, and wherein thesecondmentioned transmission means comprises toothed wheel rotatablymounted in each of said worker rollers, coupling means operativelyconnecting said toothed wheels with said worker rollers and disengagingsaid toothed wheels from said worker rollers, and a chain meshing withsaid toothed wheels and connected with said driving means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 493,549 3/1893 Grosselin 26-35FOREIGN PATENTS 3,536 1897 Great Britain. 611,001 10/1948 Great Britain.483,132 9/1929 Germany. 312,498 5/1929 Great Britain. 880,018 10/1961Great Britain.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Prmaiy Examiner.

1. A TEAZING MACHINE COMPRISING A ROTARY SHAFT, A DRUM CARRIED BY SAIDSHAFT, A PLURALITY OF WORKER ROLLERS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE PERIPHERYOF SAID DRUM, TRANSMISSION MEANS INCLUDING MEANS ON EACH OF SAID ROLLERSCOOPERATING THEREWITH CONNECTED WITH SLIPPING TO EACH OF SAID WORKERROLLERS, OTHER NON-SLIP TRANSMISSION MEANS INCLUDING OTHER MEANS ON EACHOF SAID ROLLERS COOPERATING THEREWITH REMOVABLY CONNECTED TO EACH OFSAID WORKER ROLLERS AND MEANS DRIVING SAID TWO TRANSMISSION MEANS.